Parents’ group won’t ask to start charter school cluster in Dunwoody just yet

A parents’ group has decided against submitting this month a letter of intent to try to start a charter school cluster in Dunwoody next school year.

Dunwoody Parents Concerned About Quality Education had discussed submitting to county and state officials by the April 30 deadline a letter of intent to start a charter cluster. But at the group’s April 28 meeting, organizers said they couldn’t get agreement on the plan from representatives of all Dunwoody’s schools, so they decided to wait.

“It was impractical to try to do it at the speed we were trying to do it,” Dunwoody Parents organizer Robert Wittenstein said. “This is a more sane approach.”

The group’s chairwoman, Allegra Johnson, said Dunwoody Parents now will try to help organize another group to take over the charter cluster effort. That group should include elected representatives from all of Dunwoody’s schools, Wittenstein said

“We’re going to try get it started .. but we will not be in charge,” he said. “It has to be done by folks who are put in charge by the schools.”

The earliest the new group could submit a request for a charter system would be in 2014, he said.

Charter schools clusters are groups of public schools are governed by local councils and freed from some state and county controls in return for improved performance. Some Dunwoody parents want to make the city’s schools a charter cluster.

Dunwoody parents also back legislative efforts that would allow the city to start its own school system separate from the county.